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Learning on the water Free canoe trip opportunity for Deh Cho teens
Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, August 1, 2013
DEH CHO
Teenagers in the Deh Cho have the opportunity to take to the water as part of a free educational experience.
These youth from Manitoba were part of the Canadian Canoe Foundation's trip on the Manigotagan River in Manitoba last summer. The foundation is offering a free six-day trip on the Mackenzie River to youth in grades 9 to 11. - photo courtesy of the Canadian Canoe Foundation
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The Canadian Canoe Foundation is looking for seven more youths in grades 9 to 11 to participate in the canoe trip it is planning to run on the Mackenzie River from Fort Simpson to Wrigley from Aug. 19 to 25.
The foundation, a charitable organization based out of Chelsea, Que., has been offering canoe trips across Canada for teenagers every summer since 2010.
The foundation creates watershed-focused environmental education projects. During the canoe trips, participants learn about environmental stewardship and the issues facing Canadian waterways, said Amy Jefferies, the foundation's registration co-ordinator.
Learning while on the river creates a tactile experience that can't be reproduced in a classroom, she said.
"It often hits home more," said Jefferies.
For each of its trips, the foundation partners with an environmental organization in the area. For this trip, the foundation's first on the Mackenzie River, it has partnered with the NWT chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS).
A member of CPAWS will be leading the educational component of the trip, including lessons on the ecology of the Deh Cho region and the Pehdzeh Ki Ndeh area that the Pehdzeh Ki First Nation is working to protect under the NWT Protected Areas Strategy.
Interested youth can apply for the trip through the Canadian Canoe Foundation's website. The foundation is looking for youth who want to have fun during the trip, but who also have an interest in environmental stewardship, said Jefferies.
The trip is free, but youth have to arrange their own transportation to Fort Simpson and from Wrigley at the end of the trip. Any youth in the Mackenzie River watershed can apply, she said.
Equipment such as tents, paddles, life-jackets and waterproof containers for supplies in will be provided.
"Safe paddling is first and foremost," Jefferies said.
Youth are responsible for their personal supplies, including clothing and a sleeping bag.
Guides with Canoe North will be leading the trip. Participants will receive instruction on basic paddling and canoe safety before the trip begins.
In addition to the trip on the Mackenzie River, the Canadian Canoe Foundation is also running trips on the Athabasca River in Alberta and the St. John River in New Brunswick this summer.
The foundation's goal is to run a trip in each province and territory in Canada every summer, said Jefferies.
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